Will Arsenal’s commercial links with Kenya and other African countires make a transfer of Wanyama more likely?

Those of you who have read comments by JM before, will know he is very knowledgeable when it comes to tactics, formations, player attributes/qualities, club strategy/finances and transfer window developments. A few days ago, I (TotalArsenal) asked JM what he believes will happen in terms of players going and staying at Arsenal this summer.

Below you will find his response to my question (please note the response was written as a comment originally and not as a post, which makes this article a bit rusty at times. It is, nevertheless, a very interesting read) :

With regards to Sagna and Vermaelen: it would depend on the situations with Sagna (running into his last year of contract) and Vermaelen (a club captain who is benched), if they were to be around with the team next season. If both leave, the club should recruit new personnel.

The goalkeeping personnel availability next season should also be addressed (Szczesny is staying, though he will be accessed equally if a new long term contract should be given based on his performances; Fabianski is out of contract and likely moving to another club to get regular 1st team games; Mannone’s case is a 50/50, if he would prefer to remain as 3rd choice GK.

The club could promote from their reserves and youth ranks – e.g. Damian Martinez, Dejan Iliev etc). There should be new developments here in my opinion (the club have been linked with so many GKs all around Europe, or spreading red-herrings to the media on potential signings, that they might really get some respectable GK who is not in the media’s spotlight, to provide competition/guidance to Szczesny).

A quick one would be Jovetic: he is a 50/50 case. Higuain is currently agent talk. Fabregas … not next season, but could be a possibility in 2014/2015 (just as Reus could be a possibility, pending on the commercial effect of a certain new sponsorship deal in future – that of PUMA). I will recommend everyone to check PUMA’s website, look under “PUMA althetes- football” and you shall see we have Arteta, Rosicky, Giroud, Sagna endorsing their brand. Also King Henry, Fabregas Clichy. Then the international star players like Kun Aguero, Yaya Toure, Falcao, Buffon, Chiellini, Reus, Vidic, Carrick and more all endorsing their sportswear as well.

PUMA could lend a helping hand to the club with the negotiations on Fabregas, Reus, Marco Verratti and Usain Bolt (if he switches to football/soccer 🙂 ). Under Nike, we shall be always in the shadow of MU and Barcelona; under Adidas, in the shadow of Bayern Munich and Chelsea. PUMA shall be a breath of fresh air. (They have also club sponsorship ties with Newcastle, CardiffCity, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Hoffenheim, Bordeaux, Rennes, Feyenoord, Espanyol, Sporting Lisbon CP, Independiente, Botafogo, the national teams of Uruguay, Chile, Austria, CzechRepublic, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Macedonia, Cameroon, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Bahrain)

The club is likely to be in for 3 obvious signings, if the candidates are available. (We have 3 outs – Squillaci, Arshavin & Fabianski, so expect at least 3 new ins. Any more would depend on further departures of 1st team players). That does not include new signings for our youth ranks and reserves (a.k.a our youth players).

A lot of negotiations done could be related to our commercial partnership deals (e.g. financial agreement with Imperial Bank, related to Kenya, Uganda and African markets, the Emirates* shirt’s sponsorship – they are shirts’ sponsor as well for e.g. PSG, AC Milan, Hamburger SV, Real Madrid, Olympiacos etc) and the club management’s level of comfort when dealing with the player’s agent/agency (which also informs us why we have recruited/negotiated the signing of more players being represented by certain agency/agent and none by others)

*Emirates Group/ Airline are growing aggressively to become one of the top airlines in the world. They managed to get the shirt deal done for most of the top clubs (even Olympiacos is top in Greece) in the top 5 leagues in Europe, less Germany – as Bayern M (T-Home/Deutsche Telekom – German telecommunications company), B. Dortmund (Evonik Industries – one of the world´s leading specialty chemicals companies), B.Leverkusen (SunPower Corporation – owned by Total S.A., one of the six “Supermajor” oil companies in the world.), Schalke (Gazprom – largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world) are sponsored by equally major companies/holdings in their respective markets. The Emirates group would want their “investments” to the respective clubs to be rewarded in return (clubs winning trophies, signing “marquee” players), in terms of boosting market branding for the company.

As an example, the Emirates group/airline presence as a sponsor might have helped smooth-en the signings of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan to PSG, during the negotiating rounds between both clubs, agents/agencies, players (where of course the formalities of transfer fees, player wages and contract, agent’s takings are all agreed upon).

I could add on of the club and management direction for investing on more English youths and the shift from recruiting and promoting French youths to Spanish (Miquel, Bellarin, Toral) and German youth players (Eisfeld, Gnabry, Gedion Zelalem, Leander Siemann) for our academy. Taking a look at our 1st team, we are left with 5 and a half French players (Giroud, Koscielny, Sagna, Coquelin, Squillaci, 1/2 of Diaby), where Squillaci is leaving, Sagna and Coquelin are question marks next season, Diaby is out till next year (and likely to run down his contract). At the end of next season, we could be left with only 2 in our 1st team.

Perhaps our new manager after AW could be Spanish? Or German? As the new generation of Spanish, German and English players from our academy go into our 1st team. That is a debate for the future.

With regards to our players’ agency/agents, I would like to add that a number of them share similar agency/agent. (which has been in similar cases with other clubs if we look into the clients/players list under the agency/agent)

These are who and what our management shall have to negotiate with in order to tie down our better players, release fringe players, recruit new signings etc. (Of course, players may change their agency/agents throughout their career as and when situations benefit them).

We choose to deal with some agents/agencies and their solicitors while not with others who offer unfavourable terms to the club (e.g. involvement of 3rd or more parties in securing the ownership of the player, dealing with “super” agents who shall command a high agent fee etc), which is one of the many reasons why some world class or quality players will never play at Arsenal FC. This, our supporters shall have to understand, before ranting.

225 Responses to Predictions and background info on player-movements at Arsenal

Well. That was perhaps the most well written comment I’ve ever read! Good job JM! In respect to Fabregas, I agree. I believe he’ll give it one more year at Barca at least. But I think we have enough money to sign Reus regardless of the Puma deal. He would be a replacement for Gervinho (who is apparently going to Lyon according to rumors) who is four times better than the player leaving! Buying players better than outgoing players is key to improving the team. This needs to be noted by the club when looking at replacements for Sagna, Arshavin, Fabianski, Squillachi (spelling?), and any other players who move on (assuming those players move on). We need to buy players who will help us challenge for top trophies, not just top four. And I truly believe Wenger will do that this summer. Early signings of players like Higuain and Jovetic would be huge. It’d show big intent for the transfer window. 😀 Another important thing for the club to recognize is that going after players who other clubs are interested in is NOT a bad thing. Supposedly deals for players like Hazard, Mata, Vertongen, and more in the past have gone out the window because other clubs came around. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen anymore. Since JM didn’t right too too much about specific players I won’t get into my wish list right now. We have the whole summer for that. 😉 Thanks for reading! 😀

You write and think about Arsenal in quite a unique way, and you make it very clear that signing certain players can be a lot more difficult than we think. The commercial and agent background info is very interesting. Let’s hope the new PUMA deal will indeed offer new opportunities in terms of signing certain players. Your suggestion that both Fabregas and Reus could join us within a year, is very exciting indeed! Will it really happen though?

Like you suggested, it looks like Arsenal are shifting quickly towards an English-German-Spanish recruitment and development policy, and that surely must be a recipe for success. However, I am still hopeful a Dutchman will be signed soon hahaha 🙂

JM, great stuff mate and a very interesting and unique maiden post on BK :).

I particularly enjoyed how you framed the argument that under Nike and Adidas, we would always be in the shadow of bigger clubs. In addition, I gained insight into the players currently sponsored by Puma and your perspective as to how it may help ease negotiations. However, is there any concrete evidence that a brand that sponsors a club’s shirt has a direct influence or helping hand in improving the negotiation process for a player sponsored by the same brand? Or is that a hypothesis?

Personally, I do not believe that Reus will be influenced to join Arsenal because of Puma being our new kit sponsorship. There are a multitude of factors that go into a transfer deal and I think brand endorsement ranks very low on the “influence scale”. It’ll be interesting to see what new signings AW plans for the 2014 summer if we can manage to win some silverware/compete with the top clubs and after our wage structure grows after recruiting new signings this summer. Cesc is a different matter altogether since he used to play for us and boldly proclaimed that he would not play for any other club than Barca and Arsenal.

Also, great research on the breakdown of the each Arsenal player’s agent/company and the ties to other footballers.

When I saw the cover picture, I thought you were going to expand on our new commercial deals in Africa and assumed you were also going to mention Puma’s ties with African countries and how we could influence them to join our mighty club (Wanyama 😉 😉 ). I know you’ve mentioned this in past articles in the comment section, but it would have been a nice addition for readers who may not have sifted through all the comments!

Thank for such an insightful and informative post/comment/article , JM

there is not much to disagree on as you’ve basically covered everything, except the Usain bolt one, he is a die hard man utd fan so i’m not sure if sponsors would have such power of persuasions over some players 😉 as HH, rightly points out is the case with Cesc e.t.c

but there is no denying that in today’s world, you have agents for this , that and the other milking money or trying to make money out of everything and anything really, so the lure of players wanting to play for teams they endorse as sponsors grows potent every day.

Sorry JM, forgot to add that your very last paragraph in the article is 100% correct and a point that is often overlooked. There are certain agents that our club will surely not want to work with due to their exorbitant demands and those types of individuals are better off dealing with the likes of $hitty, PSG, Chavs etc.

Possibly one of the best articles I have ever read, incredibly insightful, into an aspect of football that is very rarely explored. On the football side, what are peoples opinions on wanyama? I have only watched him play a couple of time on the tv. A friend of mine (celtic fan) tells me that he is very good in the tackle but can be a little gung-ho and at times his passing ability can leave a lot to be desired – as such he doesn’t thinking he would be a good fit for arsenal.

JM.. nice post..
There be no other new manager soon.. cause Wenger will beaten Ferguson.. he will still at Emirates for 10 years more.. hahaha..

Yes.. I agree with you.. Wenger will get 2 or 3 frenchman.. to replace Sagna.. Coquelin and Squillacy.. and one is already sign.. hehe..
But I hope somehow he will also bring some dutchman.. hehe.. hopefully a striker.. he had a good chemistry with dutch-striker.. haha..

VCC.. Congratulation.. you are the champion.. it is very hard to overcome your smart and statistical approach..
And man.. your humours are very funny.. I bet for you to winning the most funniest blogger.. hahaha..
I try to understand what humours that Glic’s said.. but I failed.. hahaha.. to hard for me as a foreigner.. hehe..

On the potential returning of Fabregas and the signing of Reus, it might likely have to wait for the eventual fruition of our club’s shirt deal with PUMA to take place starting season 2014/2015.
I shall also share with you that Jurgen Klopp (seen by many around as a potential replacement for AW in future) also endorses PUMA sportwear. (*PUMA is seen as a direct rival of adidas in Germany, when the founding brothers of Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, split their company into adidas and PUMA. Bayern Munich – adidas and Borussia Dortmund – PUMA can be seen as direct competitors for the Bundesliga in a similar light)

Our club’s ability to get as much improved commercial deals and sponsorships (Hopefully, IG and his band of brothers will be doing their thing right) shall bring us in better shape to contest in future against our competitions. Which is what Man. United has been accumulating their resources over decades to become a global brand, and why Bayern Munich has huge backings from adidas, Volkswagen, Audi etc (where their CEOs/Presidents sit in BM’s non-executive board). This is our way forward in the terms of marketing and promoting The Arsenal brand around the world as a strong and competitive football/soccer establishment, when we do not have rich owners injecting cash into our club directly.

On both Fabregas and Reus joining us, our club shall firstly have to show our intent and love to welcome both players, and sound out to their respective clubs. After which, PUMA could come into the picture during the player (and agent/agency) contract negotiations, to smooth-en up the transactions.

“Arsenal are shifting quickly towards an English-German-Spanish recruitment and development policy, and that surely must be a recipe for success. However, I am still hopeful a Dutchman will be signed soon.”
– Will you be happy, if that Dutchman is God himself (after his stint at Ajax), to understudy Liam Brady as our potential future new Head of Youth Development? Or returning as an important figure with our 1st team coaching staff (working with AW, Bould, Primorac and Banfield etc)?

I have recently sent an e-mail to bergkampesque@gmail.com
(Something of reference to the God at Arsenal, the honourable Bob Wilson, Tim Clark of Emirates Group and Bjoern Gulden of PUMA SE). Do have a good read on that.

Besides, we should set our sights and cannons at Chelsea FC, and improve our status as the top club in London. (which would pit PUMA against adidas in the country as well)

“Personally, I do not believe that Reus will be influenced to join Arsenal because of Puma being our new kit sponsorship.”

I would suggest that sport athletes (not only for football, other sports) also earn quite a substantial amount through their endorsements with sporting brands.
You only have to refer to the recently retired Beckham. (when he played his last match with PSG colours, I also see the big sign of “Fly Emirates” in the front of the PSG jersey. That is a huge promotion for the airline group. And Beckham endorses adidas – where he has played for Real Madrid, AC Milan, LA Galaxy etc). When we put a global brand, endorsements by athletes, agents, marketing and promotion together, it becomes an enormous package for all parties involved. Nike previously even wanted to help Man. United pay a big part of Sneijder’s wage and bonuses should he wish to join their club (until it was considered too exorbitant for their liking).

So it could be both Reus and Klopp coming from BD, partially because they would wish to continue their relationship with PUMA (a German sports brand as well at the same time, although Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) – French retailer and owner of Gucci brand, owns 60+% of PUMA stock).

In regards to the potential signing of Wanyama, in simple terms, Imperial Bank could see him as part of their marketing plans to promote their co-branded debit cards in Kenya, Uganda etc. While Arsenal at the same time shall gain a valuable “destroyer” in the team. Adding the influence of PUMA’s sponsorship deals with many African national teams, this would help smooth-en working relationships between parties of interests in future.

@ 007 James Bond May 21, 2013 00:32

Usain Bolt is an example of a good working relationship between an athlete and a sports brand. The athlete endorses; the sports brand sponsors. It may also not be a sports brand, as he has deals with HarperCollins, RockLive etc. The same goes with any athlete/any celebrity in the entertainment business etc. They earn the basic wages but it is usually their endorsements that bring in the big cash.

@ Rohan May 21, 2013 00:41

Wanyama is being an example of a likely candidate for our “destroyer”. Main task on the pitch: Search and Destroy (force our opposition’s creative players into submission, by any “legal” means necessary). His passing abilities should improve at Arsenal (we are good at that).

@ oz gunner May 21, 2013 01:51

At least I am not Jose Mourinho or Jorge Mendes (a “Super” Agent who founded the agency, Gestifute).

The PUMA deal has not been officially announced on Arsenal.com (possibly to respect our current deal with Nike, due to expire in 2014). It is the many reports around the world that is hard to ignore, that it would be the more likely new shirt sponsorship for us.

@ henrychan May 21, 2013 01:57

God is returning to Arsenal (see my comments to TotalArsenal somewhere in this post above). The statue should ready to be unveiled in summer. Remember this?

Dennis Bergkamp Award (Most Valuable Blogger) – TA for sure. Always a joy to read his stuff. Created the best blog on the net hands down.

Santi Cazorla Award (Most Popular Blogger) – Too many to choose from. TA, RA, GLIC, Terry….I like every blogger on here and enjoy every comment.

Funniest Blogger – GLIC. Don’t know how many times that bloke has reduced me to tears. People at uni must think I’m an idiot because i burst in to laughter too often after a GLIC comment. Followed closely behind is Terry. You two in a room is comedic gold. I’ll never look at a telescope properly again. Honourable mentions go to VCC and RA.

Aaron Ramsey Award (Chalice for Underratedness…look it up, it is a word somewhere ) –
Once again too many to list. Alex is a gem as is PPP. But individuals like Richie, Admir, Umair, AFC, 17, and Blowjob could all be considered also. I think GLIC could win this also because laughter aside his serious comments are very good.

Blogger who should post more – PPP, Richie, and Sharkespeare (rarely posts a comment that isn’t brilliant!)

Jack Wilshere Award – HH hands down. Most sites die overnight leaving us foreigners with no one to chat too. Thanks to HH’s inability to sleep and the time difference this site goes on long into the wee hours. Well done.

Rookie of the Year Award – Alex. Very seamless transition

Gareth Bale Award (Your Rival Blogger) – HH!!!! At times drives me nuts haha. Wouldn’t have it any other way though. Honourable mention goes to Herb. Although he infuriates me at times he is missed.

Best Avatar Award – TA’s new avatar. perfect for the site and love the black and white photos that show the red of Arsenal…classical.

Oz :), fantastic choices mate, thanks for submitting your nominations. Hahaha I had no idea an individual could be the most insightful AND your rival blogger…but I am honoured to be both!

More than happy to drive discussion as often as I can, though I must admit that I enjoy winding others up and will occasionally throw out “contradictory/against the grain comments” simply to generate debate hahaha!

JM, what would interest me is if you could find some data/information on whether players endorsed by a brand receive preferential/better treatment if they also play for a club sponsored by the same brand! For example, personalized designs for shoes, extra kickbacks from the vendors etc.

That would be fascinating and information the average fan would simply not be privy to 🙂

Also Oz, I wanted to nominate you for the should post more award/underratedness since I am always in awe at your pre-match articles mate! I have no idea how you come up with those masterpieces, but I guess it’s all perspective since you claim they are easier to write than my post-match ones.

Sometimes you write things I don’t necessarily agree with but you write them in such a way that I take it on board. It’s a breath of fresh air because most people who say things against the grain are your ‘Arsene out/x is sh*t/y is hopeless’ crusaders.

Hahaha Oz, I truly lack conviction in some of those comments but I force myself to argue from a different perspective so as to drive discussion and keep things fresh. I always have to be able to back-up the claim with facts though, so in that sense at least there is some truth in what I’m discussing. However, there are times where I will actually find some agreement in an “against the grain” perspective and get so annoyed with the overly positive view that I will purposely wind up individuals by playing devil’s advocate 👿

Oz, what I’m currently playing around with is our goal tally for next season, especially for our new signings. I’m basing their future output on past performance from their respective 2nd years in past leagues and incorporating projected minutes with of course the caveat that they can remain healthy.

If we can add Higuain and he can meet my predicted output of 20-25 goals, I think we’ll be challenging for silverware, so long as the goals are well distributed. Higuain is often criticized for shying away against the top clubs in terms of production, but I feel as though this is a confidence issue more than a knock on talent (i.e. signing of Benzema, rotation from Maureen and often being 2nd choice in big games).

cheers. Appreciate that. I honestly don’t know why you and others like it because it’s just me dribbling for a few pages, a stat here and there and a few edited pics…come to think of it, that’s my comments in a nutshell 🙂

I’ll definitely be doing them more often though, the season lacked rude fingers!!

Post match reports: I think they are the hardest posts to write. You and TA excel at them. I think to do them you need to be level headed and take out the emotion of it (plus everyone sees the game differently). You both see the game how it should be seen.

Plus you’ve read the match day ramblings…I’m too biased and favour defensive acts. PPP would hand in a report with a remote stuck through it haha. GLIC would have to make it up because he was hiding. 17’s would be full of anger and swear words. Terry’s would be sidetracked by the times he flicked over to girl on girl porn. VCC’s would be missing 5 minute passages caused by times he nodded off during the game.

haha it know what you mean. You always back up your arguments with stats and don’t back down. Sometimes I think you’re the wife that breaks down their husband during an argument. To the point where he shouts ‘FINE’ and storms off out of the room haha.

Jesus. Pull that off and that’d be one almightly good read! So we won’t challenge with just Giroud up top? 🙂
Higuain would be an amazing signing. I’ve always been a fan but thought he would be unattainable. If we get him I definitely think we’ll be challengers. We create so much so adding in a clinical striker/ poacher would help us immensely. He’d definitely bring out the best in Santi as well.

Some of the many endorsements/sponsorships between players and brands. Whether they(players) receive “preferential/better treatment”, there are advertisements at/from Nike, adidas indicating as such.

@ Klaus Stein May 21, 2013 02:56
Thanks for the correction on the agency’s country address in Germany. That agency has a big group of agents located around Europe (England, Spain, Germany, France and Turkey)

Total Arsenal (if you are around), I still have one previous comment “awaiting moderation”., which contains replies to most (if not all) earlier comments.

JM @ 3:20, is that a matter of the player themselves being marketable players or a result of the player being in the perfect environment where the brand them and their club are endorsed by are aligned.

JM @ 3:20, is that a matter of the players themselves being marketable players/playing for a big club or a result of the players being in the perfect environment where the brand them and their club are endorsed by are aligned.

It works both ways, I should say. Sporting brands wish to be related to big time players and clubs to promote their brands/products and project their positive/winning/healthy image to the global community; Big clubs wish to have the sponsorships from these sporting brands to boost their financial profile. Big time players wish to get endorsements from sporting brands partly as an additional income (while at the same time, the products helps them in giving their best performance out on the field) and playing with clubs which have an ongoing working relationship to these brands is a win-win for all.

All good points JM. However, my concern is what comes first and what influences what, so as to “test” your hypothesis. For example, does a brand in fact have any influence on player transfers? Or do players choose their clubs based on their sponsors? Or is brand and aspects related to the it an entirely separate entity to that of player transfers/negotiations?

From my point of view, if a sponsor directly (or even indirectly) influenced a club’s transfer dealings or a player’s ultimate destination, having managers would be a mere formality or would be incredibly frustrating and laborious for managers to sign players not prevalent on the brand that endorses their club.

Let say if Nike were to pump in £1 billion for a 10-year sponsorship deal to Manchester United. Nike also endorses C.Ronaldo. Manchester United could use part of that big financial package for C.Ronaldo’s transfer fees, wages and bonuses. C.Ronaldo gets to return to a top club and at the same time, continues his good relationship with Nike.

JM, agreed that is one way to look at it. However, what I am asking is whether or not that brand or increased sum actually has any effect on the transfer negotiation process itself (as your article hypothesis suggests, not intentionally challenging you, I’m wondering myself and simply asking questions 🙂 ).

Let’s look at a different case, say that of Jack Wilshere, who is also sponsored by Nike. So Nike pumps £1 billion for a 10-year sponsorship deal to Manchester United. Does that now mean that because Manure are sponsored by Nike that they will use their purchasing power and endorsement influence to help Manure convince Jack that he should move there?

Alternatively, in the case of our new Puma sponsorship deal, Reus is endorsed by Puma, but does that really have any effect on whether or not it makes our negotiation process easier in prying him away for Dortmund, who is also sponsored by Puma? For some reason, I think the link between brand and player/club is being over-emphasized and given too much credit, but I am not sure if that’s true and am just wondering!

Manchester United will definitely exercise that advantage (£1 billion package from Nike) as well to sign Wilshere, or even Neymar, Iniesta, Ibrahimovic as well. They could also improve Rooney’s wage and bonuses package at the same time. Nike would let United be their flagship football club in UK.

It depends on how and what Wilshere, his agency/agent, and Arsenal perceive in the offer. Wilshere could change his endorsement by PUMA or adidas etc and get better remunerations, his agency/agent would want to push through the deal with Nike whether Wilshere likes it or not, Wilshere could change his agency/agent, PUMA could also counter with a substantial offer to rope in Wilshere into their client list and improve their sponsorship deal to Arsenal. Arsenal could use their financial backing to hold on to Wilshere. These are all sorts of permutations and engagements working in the background where outsiders are not aware of.

That is the case for any potential transfer in/out as well. The initial intent has to be done by negotiating clubs, where then the external factors would be in place during the middle and latter stages of negotiations.

JM, imo that makes more sense. If the brand played a primary role in the transfer negotiations of a club, then managers being engaged on the business end of transfer deals would become unnecessary.

What then of players who remain with their current sponsorships, but play for clubs with different sponsorships. For example, Ronaldo and Ozil are both endorsed by Nike and have always played with those brands (though Ozil did temporarily try Adidas and did not like their cleats)? Or Santi who remains with Adidas despite Arsenal being sponsored by Nike and soon Puma? What benefit does said player receive in negotiations or in commercial time etc. from the differing brand that sponsors the club?

I guess what I’m getting at is that perhaps the relationship between player, club and brand is overstated and players will not simply swap brands because their club is sponsored by a different one. Also, if the brand only enters negotiation in the later/tertiary stages in terms of increased endorsement deals or extra kickbacks for players that play for clubs endorsed by the same brand, then perhaps your hypothesis that brands can in the negotiation process (X) is not directly related to transfer negotiations (Y), since clubs will undoubtedly be interested in a plethora of players and their contract deals with certain brands have little to no influence on their preference.

What your hypothesis does give hope for, is if a player who wants to come to our club is endorsed by the same brand we are sponsored by. This may in some way lead to an increased side benefit for the player, but I highly doubt that a brand would provide increased funds for a club so as to purchase certain players that represent their brand.

Just because Wilshere is sponsored by Nike doesn’t mean he has to sign for another club who is also sponsored by Nike, does it??? Cristiano Ronaldo is sponsored by Nike, and if he stays at Real Madrid, they are sponsored by Adidas. Xavi is sponsored by Adidas as well, I believe, and he plays for a Nike sponsored club. It’s not the be all and end all it’s made out to be is it??? I think it can play a big factor, but it’s not the all encompassing factor that decides where a player plays his football. If it is, then we are in trouble with regards to Wilshere, as well as a few other players like Oxlade Chamberlain, Koscielny, Szczesny and a few others who I am too tired and lazy to name right now 😀

Exactly Milo :), that was the point I was getting at in regards to brands not having the large effect some may be led to believe. I think the effect is very minimal, players will reap the benefits of being endorsed by particular brands if they are good footballers, regardless of whether or not they play for a club endorsed by the same brand.

Thanks for a really great post that, while I was aware of the basics, has now ruined my thinking that football was a game rather than an economic brawl!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

HH, I suspect the influence is more via the players agent. If you move to this big or bigger team sponsored by Puma you may get more from Puma if you do well in your next renegotiation then if you went to another team sponsored by Nike. Why? Because Puma wants pictures of you in your team playing great in Puma shoes, but not quite as much if you are wearing a Nike shirt… This is solved by showing you out of uniform in generic gear from Puma but doesnt carry the same market impact I suspect..

It’s not the decider but can play a role in player choice as well as team choice…

JM, I guess I would ask, which of the targets we often talk about might be out because of agents.. Note I see this in NA sports a lot, some pro teams just wont deal with the shennanigans of some top agents. I.e. are any of Jovetic, Higuain or other maybes for this year on the no-go list that you know of?

It is a case-by-case basis, to some clubs/players, the branding/endorsements/sponsorships are a major factor, to others, it is still a factor only to provide additional surpluses to their accounts.

Take another case of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic moves from AC Milan to PSG. both clubs have their main sponsor – The Emirates Group/Airlines (which is also our main sponsor). It does not have to be a sporting brand like PUMA, adidas, Nike etc. It could well be some other establishments like HSBC, Standard Chartered, American Express, Volkswagen, Samsung, Microsoft, Apple, Walmart, Roll-Royce or whatever global brand that links in endorsement with both club and player. The influence is always there working in the background that most of us are not aware of.

And in JM’s defense (he doesn’t need my help 🙂 ), he never claimed that the brand was a determining factor in transfer negotiations either! I believe the point he was making was that having Puma as a brand may provide the player with benefits they may not necessarily have acquired while playing for a club endorsed by a different brand. Basically, having a brand with access to a growing contingent of players never hurt, especially when you consider we won’t be competing with clubs like Manure, Barca etc. in Nike.

I believe the rewards for some players could be larger. Say an extra 100k pounds/euros per year in sponsorship if it is worth it to the sponsor. Especially true for hot high scoring strikers I suspect..

dont overestimate I agree, but dont underestimate. Especially when you add in young men (very young) making big decisions with input from older, less scrupulous agent men who reap a share of that increased return.

JM @ 5:03, now I’m confused. Why would Thiago Silva and Ibra move from Fly Emirates to Fly Emirates? IIRC, AC Milan are also sponsored by Fly Emirates, but the decision to leave was based on the belief that AC was starting a rebuild and the experienced players did not see eye to eye with the club’s intended direction.

If anything, the case could be made that Nike played a larger role in the influence since BOTH players are also endorsed by Nike as is PSG, where as AC Milan is endorsed by Adidas :).

Jgc et al, at the same time one should not overestimate the power of a global brand like Nike or Adidas that are more well known and successful in the football industry. They can afford to pay a premium and meet the increased kickbacks certain players may be enticed by when contracts are offered by clubs with different sponsorships too :).

Guess the moral of the story is that there is no real answer as to whether or not brands have the influence that some are led to believe, but that it never hurts to have increased funds from a brand, especially if you are targeting players already endorsed by their brand. However, the player must always be willing to want to move to our club and vice versa.

And the player’s agency/agent involvement in his client’s movements in influenced by getting a better deal/cut in the transfer between clubs, where the clubs get their money from sponsorships (or their rich owner), so it still comes back to the big market players out there influencing the directions of club overall strategy, agency/agent’s maneuvering player’s movement around, the media reporting on rumours of players going here and there.

@ Highbury Harmony May 21, 2013 05:07

Emirates is the main sponsor, while Nike was only the kit sponsor. It is like the main sponsor having a bigger market share of things while the kit sponsor has its moments but are overshadowed by their bigger counter parts.

Emirates would see bringing both from Italy (a club that was in a decline of fortunes and rebuilding) to France (a club that is aggressively gaining momentum in France and Europe, banked by Qatar Inc. Corp, is in the capital of France – Paris etc). They(Emirates and Qatar Inc. Corp) even brought in David Beckham from LA Galaxy (both adidas sponsored) and when he played his last match with PSG, what everyone (football supporters or not) watching on the TV/online in a sobbing Beckham, wearing the PSG shirt, with a big sign “Fly Emirates” in front. That is brand promotion at its best.

Emirates get their showcase and headline news, Beckham gets to win another league trophy, PSG wins their Ligue 1 title and reaps in the rewards/bonuses from sponsors to be shared by their staff.

Thanks for the comment to HH, exact right example. A little dosh, player in uniform with logo on front on a big day all will remember, doing something (i.e. works for scoring big goals to) everyone will remember (for a little while!)

enjoying your comments with others. I honestly never ever factored in how sponsorship could impact on a teams buying power. You make a compelling argument in all honesty.
In my opinion it would only be a minor impact.

At JM @ 5:02, I do not believe Emirates factored into the decision for them to transfer to PSG. It is a nice theory that you have pieced together with sound, logical reasoning, however then the players in question, but what happens if the players leave this summer? Even if they do not, to believe that the Emirates wanted them to move from Milan to PSG because of perceived club reputation is slightly far fetched.

This all comes back to the debate over whether or not a sponsor is involved with the transfer negotiation process at all, which I thought we covered and agreed that their influence was purely (italics)after(italics) a deal was struck. To have any influence on PSG’s transfer dealings prior to a tertiary stage would be open for scrutiny since the club is no longer run from a manager/owner standpoint of success, but on the basis of success through its brand. Further, by stating such you are unwrapping pandora’s box by suggesting that football in itself is a sport corrupted beyond our imagination.

I’m not saying that you’re wrong in any way since I am not privy to insider information, but to suggest such a strong correlation without concrete evidence is rather misleading. Imo, it is all fun speculation on your part, but perhaps that’s just me :).

There’s a difference from a perspective to please a brand with results and being ambitious in the transfer market and buying the players they want you to in order to increase their brand value. Of course, in the case of Thiago and Ibra anyway, it could be a (italics)possibility(italics) that the world aligned perfectly for their transfers from the Emirates’ influence, but I very much doubt that it was motivating factor for either club or player.

As Oz said @ 6:12, I believe brand only plays a minor impact on transfers, if at all.

Where I believe the mistake in the theory occurs is the assumption that the sponsorship’s desires come before the club’s wants and needs.

What is being overlooked is that a club has complete freedom to ultimately achieve the goals required by the contract they have signed with a specific brand. Currently, the theory overstates the sponsor’s goal for the club; by this, I mean that the sponsor’s desires do not (or at the very least should not) interfere with the transfer/direct managing affairs of the club. If said sponsor were able to dictate which players a club should buy, in order to fulfill its own personal gain, not many clubs would want to work with said brand since the playing field becomes incredibly limited and restrictive, not to mention the accolades and appreciation are ultimately bequeathed to the sponsors and not the club (if the owner of the club is a main shareholder or CEO of the main sponsor of the shirt, I guess it’d be a different matter since the affairs are then tied).

Simply put, sponsors endorse and provide remuneration for a club in order to display their logo and further their reputations as global brands (authentic and replica kits will display their logo, pictures etc), but the manager is likely not involved in such tertiary affairs. Can you imagine if Emirates dictated which players Arsene should and should not buy? The only aspect they are able to contribute towards, in the way of transfers anyway, is in how much money they provide to the club in the binding contract. Whether or not this money is invested in the club through transfers or to pay off stadium debt or to remunerate employees etc., the club is free to spend the cash in ways it deems necessary, so long as they still fulfill their contractual obligations laid out by the sponsor endorsing the brand as distributed by the owner (or individual in charge of managing those affairs).

Is there any possibility from the same sponsor.. Fly Emirates.. make the transfer more easier.. hehehe..
Like maybe in Hamburg Rene Adler (GK) and Heung Min Son (ST) were link with us..
Or Van der Weil and Sakho from PSG.. Or Shawaraai and Niang from Milan.. hehehehe..

You are welcome. That Beckham story/new and picture of him retiring in a PSG shirt sponsored by Fly Emirates will be recorded in the archives, for many generations to come.

It is also seen with the entertainment industry as well, the celebrities/actors/actresses/musicians collect their commission/basic salary, while the main bulk of the income/remuneration comes from lucrative endorsements.

In cricket, Cricket Australia, Lord’s Taverners, official partner of the International Cricket Council and lots of cricket competitions globally. Some tennis tournaments, e.g. US Open Series etc.

@ oz gunner May 21, 2013 06:12

Someone would have to pay the salaries and bills at the clubs, so other than generating income through ticket sales, possibility shares prices for those clubs in Inc. Corp, or having a rich owner injecting cash without repayment of interest, the clubs management will have to reach out to sponsors around the world to buy into the clubs perceived prestige and marketing potential to get new revenues. Which is a reason why we see clubs playing engaging the supporters (and their sponsors) touring around the world during the off-season. The impact is there and it will only grow.

@ Highbury Harmony May 21, 2013 06:23

It will not matter to Emirates if Thiago Silva and/or Ibrahimovic leave again next season because they are already collecting their money when PSG won the Ligue 1, the players wearing “Fly Emirates” in front of their shirts. It is the offscreen revenue generated when their brand gets telecast online and the media worldwide, investors to invest in Emirates shares, people looking to book Emirates flights services and traveling with them etc.

Both players have also collected their tax free salary and bonuses from their club (mind you, France has that 70+% tax charges of persons earning 1 million a season or somewhat thereabouts), they helped win the league title for PSG. PSG has an additional help from their wealthy Qatori owners as well, their Emirates engagement just puts the icing on the cake.

It may be true that a club chooses to reject the sponsorship of a brand due to contractual bindings that the club is to sign this or that player to help market their brand in a few markets in different part of the world. The owners weigh in the cost of rejecting/signing the sponsorship and that puts everything else into perspective. Can they afford not to sign and lose that amount of sponsorship, is it critical to the survival and well being of the club by rejecting the sponsor(s)? It is because not every club in the world is well managed, clubs in other leagues, even in La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Brazilian and Argentinian leagues, are wanting to get good sponsorships deals just in order to survive, and the sponsors would want certain players to sign for the club in order to market their brand globally. There is nothing corrupted or dodgy on the proceedings, every contract agreement is legalised, the difference is the way the club/owners/brands/players & their agency/agents see things from us common folk. If we are talking about the Pandora Box, it has already been opened since football/soccer is commercialised.

To clarify, the sponsors dont come first in club decision making. But, they have multiple targets for any given position etc. Where it may have an influence is in:

a. the player / agent decision side

b. the final choice between 2 desirables at the club end, if they feel all else is equal (i.e. if you could only have 1 of Higuain and Jovetic *AND* you felt both were totally equal…)

Recall, the sponsors influece clubs through their dollars. The same as they influence players and their agents. Their goal is to get the most coverage per dollar spent. Thus, both clubs and players pay attention.

It is better to succeed better somewhere else then play for the sponsor, but when decisions get close, as they often can *no matter our more knowledgeable opinions* then you see it I think.

My better case in point would be the batter in NA sports between big market teams (NY, Chicago, Toronto in Hockey) and small market teams (Pittsburgh in Baseball, Denver in everything, Calgary or Florida or Texas in hockey). Top players often try for the bigger market teams because not only is more dosh on offer (tho not always) but the marketing aspects for other endorsements and etc are much higher.

Case in point: LeBron James from Cleveland (small) where he could have eventually won championships, to basketball mad Miami (large) where he eventually one championships a year or so sooner.

I dont think it was the cups or the players, but the “extras”…

Anyway, c’est la vie and so goes the debate on the unprovable because we are not at the table! 🙂

In football, Anzhi Machachkulachachkula-whatever (AM) will apparently sign anything with 2 legs and a beating heart for at least 1-2 million (even you HH, or me!! 🙂 ) … or so it seems, yet virtually no big names really go there…

why? Could be because no sponsors or other endorsers care very much about the Dagestan (Dagestani?) market?

Exhibit 1 LeBron James. He was already on a 99 million dollar deal from Nike when playing with Cleveland but chose to go to Miami to win some titles and create a legacy. Players’ careers are often measured on both their individual and team success. In fact, LeBron took less money to play for Miami, in order to fit his salary cap into their wage structure. However, of course that would naturally lead to the argument that his endorsements would now increase. As you can already see, he was making an exorbitant amount from vendors like Nike, Sprite etc. before he even moved to Miami. In his specific situation, it comes down to glory and what he will be remembered for in the sport, before additional monetary incentives from sponsors.

Exhibit 2 NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB. There are no sponsors that feature on the team’s jerseys, just the logo itself as a brand. In sports where leagues are salaried, it becomes more important for athletes to establish themselves in order to receive more money from sponsors. However, playing for a specific team or signing with them, has nothing to do with the sponsor itself. The reason why is that certain brands own the rights to all the jerseys and in this case are the main sponsors for the players themselves. What I mean is that Reebok owns all the licensing for NHL jerseys, Nike owns all the licensing for NFL jerseys, Adidas owns all the licensing for NBA jerseys and Majestic owns all the licensing for MLB jerseys. Thus, when a player chooses a specific team, they are in search of the team that gives them both the most amount of money and the best chance at success in trophies, since their sponsorships generally exist outside of the respective brand that dominates the sport.

I would add that I work for a university which is a lot like a poor football club that JM noted.. Thus, we have “players” who do and dont perform, “fans” who pay to attend, and a desire to improve our calculated ratings so we are considered “better” and “more global” … all in the hopes that people will give us money to do what we do…

And we are always seeking sponsorships. Of our individual research, of our students, of our university…

Thus, the same marketing rules apply. Choosing between two “stars” to bring to the university, the one that “sells better to the sponsor” will, all else equal win. In our case, it is NZ government who is our main shirt and other sponsor and owner.

Thus, the better case we can make to government that we are meeting their needs / interests, while continuing our climb to world domination (no one likes a loser), then the better we may be able to charge them more for other things… And after the Christchurch earthquake we need to charge more for everything to keep a stable roof up …

Thus, the same marketing rules apply in many ways. Always look good, say the right things etc and dont piss off the sponsors or we might not be able to afford certain salaries.

This translates all the way to my postgraduate students and undergraduate project students. Everything we do always has a “benefit to NZ and goverment” aspect so it sells that much better. It doesnt define or decide what we do but it does (ahem) “guide” it..

I am lucky in that what I do sells well naturally without me having to contort it. Others are not so lucky… They are the poorer teams if you will…

“which of the targets we often talk about might be out because of agents.. Note I see this in NA sports a lot, some pro teams just wont deal with the shennanigans of some top agents. I.e. are any of Jovetic, Higuain or other maybes for this year on the no-go list that you know of?”

Personnally, I would avoid the players who are owned by a 3rd party (non-football related), other by their parent club and agent. I remembered the case of Tevez and Mascherano at West Ham, when they then going to be transferred to Man. United and Liverpool respectively, think it was one “Media Sports Investments” and a “Joorabchian” fella. That went to a court case?

Then, closely to home was with the “super” player agent Alain Migliaccio, current agent of Squillaci, also when Nasri was with us. I heard AW was somehow engaged with him in the past as well until he broke off the deal.

And of the big group of players (mainly from Brazil and Portugal) engaged with Jorge Mendes of Gestifute. C. Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are some of his clients. Not Arsenal -type of engagements.

Of Jovetic and Higuain, they are represented by respective agencies/agents in Eastern Europe and Germany. They are however, the most marketable player/client with their agency/agent and would thus command the top dollar. We might get either but would strain our resources to get both.

@henrychan May 21, 2013 07:13

Adler is one of the many GKs named to be rumouredly linked with us, though the Korean striker is unlikely (given our treatment of JY Park).

Van der Weil and Sakho from PSG, Shawaraai and Niang from Milan: We are not linked with 3 of them while Niang chosed Milan over us when he was on trial. Will the merry go round of player movement continue between the 2 clubs is anyone guess.

We have to bear in mind the season 2013-2014 is leading to WC 2014 in Brazil, so international players will be cautious on their movement to clubs at the same time.

JM, again you are too focused on a glamorous, hopeful theory that you have pieced together to neatly suggest that X leads to Y, in this case a sponsor influencing a club’s transfers/direction. Your few examples are isolated and certainly not the norm. There are certainly ideal, perfect scenarios where your argument may hold more truth, such as that of PSG or QPR where owner and main sponsor are intricately linked.

From one perspective, you could be right. The moves of Thiago and Ibra could be seen as the Emirates playing a part in influencing both player and club to agree to a transfer to PSG in order to facilitate a self-motivated goal of brand promotion. After all, the club’s owner as you stated is a Qatar company also based in France.

From another perspective, PSG would have received the money by contract whether they signed Thiago and Ibra or not. What they may not have gained is an additional bonus for winning the league title, but that is not contingent on whether or not those two were brought to the club. Thus, it could be said that those were the best two players available to PSG in the transfer market that were willing to locate their and satisfied both’s desires to win a title. For example, if PSG had bought van Judas and Kompany, surely they would have had as much of a chance at winning the title as with the other two.

So then, it comes down to a few factors that your theory is limited by: 1) player’s inherent desire to join the club, 2) club’s desire to buy certain players and their ability to do so in terms of #1 and 3) perceived success of the club (there are more, but it is almost 3 am here and I am starting to fall asleep and lose focus 🙂 ).

It would be incredibly dodgy/questionable if football were operated on your model, because it suggests that managers have no influence on the direction of their teams and that they are simply muppets out to perform the work of the owners/board. I do not believe (key word do not believe, since neither you nor I have concrete evidence) that sponsors play such an integral role in the transfer business, or in micromanaging the overall business of the club as you seem to suggest.

Football being commercialized is still a minor aspect in the day to day operations of a club. At its root, yes the club is expected to perform to certain expectations based on the contractual obligations of its sponsors. Perform better and you are subject to receive increased funds to reinvest into the club or competitive deals that better your current ones. However, from my understanding, these contracts outline specific goals, not transfers or suggestions of how to go about in achieving those goals. And that is where we differ.

Agree to disagree because it is time for me to go to bed and because I do not want to take anymore away from such a fantastic, interesting and thought provoking theory :).

Jgc :), I’m not saying that there’s no aspect of pleasing a sponsor in the business dealings of a club. Rather what I am saying is that if an incoming player happens to also please a sponsor, it’s a win-win. However, to suggest that an incoming player is brought in solely to please or at the advice/demand of a sponsor, it is somewhat hopeful and too presumptuous.

Don’t be surprised Wenger doesn’t get anybody because he will say he has super,super stars in Jack and OX. There is no need to splash the money.
If this is the scenario and the gunners are struggling for 4th,he shd be off. No more time be given to him . He has used all the time and only the board’s reluctance to be firm has saved his head.
The problem is he could set Arsenal into a mess through his arrogance and belief in his way which has set back the gunners the last 8 years.By then it would be too late to turn the clock.This is the worst scenario.
I don’t want to see the gunners challenging only to choke with three weeks left in the season. This is criminal and unacceptable.Surely Wenger knows what needs to be done. If not get the best tacticians who would be too glad to offer their services at afraction of Wenger’s pay.

Jgc, if you consider the LeBron example from an economic standpoint, there is some unforeseen disadvantages. In Cleveland, he was better received as a fan favourite. In Miami, he is in an isolated market that consists of those who live in Miami or were fans before he moved there and those that are bandwagon fans who enjoy seeing a winner. Yes, his brand value increases since he has now won a title, but the sponsorships also lose some money since his brand value was already high in Cleveland and his brand ultimately lost money from fans in Cleveland and those outside of Cleveland that respected him for trying to win a title there.

Regardless of whether the profit outweighs the loss, ultimately the sponsorships did not influence this particular decision. He would have received exorbitant sums of money from sponsors whether or not he went to Miami. However, what one must consider is that there’s an advantage and disadvantage in any discussion of brand value. Because for every fan you gain in switching, you ultimately lose another elsewhere that is not typically accounted for.

Well, I have just finished reading JM’s superb Post, and been blown away by the sheer quality and quantity of well researched factual information which has been written beautifully! Truly a class product!! 😀

Reading thru the resultant, sometimes introspective, and sometimes delightfully discursive comments I was amazed all over again by the knowledge and insight you guys have at your fingertips.

Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic or Kompany and RvP is a no brainer to Emirates. They will always choose the former pairing, where T.Silva shall also help with their promotion of their airline brand to the South America, Brazilian markets while Ibrahimovic has been a multiple winner at all the major clubs he played with in Europe. The latter pairing pales in comparison, although quality players in their own right.

When PSG signed David Beckham, it has indirectly helped Emirates to market the airline, when people see the player wearing “Fly Emirates” in the PSG shirt. When Beckham trained at Arsenal, wearing our shirt with the “Fly Emirates” in front, it helped promoted their branding and at the same time brought Arsenal to the global view to non-footballing fans when reported in the media.

What would you say of the JY Park signing? Did you really believed that AW has endorsed it or was it the sponsors and/or board/senior management ideas to bring their respective brand to S.Korea? It is already happening in the football community, where managers have no clue/shocked whatsoever why certain players were brought into their clubs (just to sell additional shirts? boost the club’s/sponsors’ profile, marketing and branding in the player’s native country?). Who or what is pulling the strings at the background?

It is not always black and white in the business world and of a now commercialised football environment. This may not happen frequently with Arsenal, that does not mean the same arrangements are done with other clubs around the world.

Thanks for your comments, perhaps you may be able to share your experiences as working as accountant when it comes to sponsorships, marketing and branding in the business world. How far will corporations and enterprises go about (legally of course, but perhaps done unfairly or even unethically to the likings of their competitors) to procure the right personnel, goods and services and market their image, value-add and grow their business.

Wow, what an interesting, insightful, thought provoking post and if honest, hardly any of us would have gave a second glance to such a take on sort of under cover matters !. Whether you agree that the sponsors can have such a sway in the matter or not and JM puts a great case forward which is hard to completely dismiss ( no smoke without fire comes to mind ! ), it`s like a book you cant put down, fascinating stuff, like footballing espionage !. Class JM !.

Box to Box midfielder, reminds me of the largest female colleague I have ever worked with – she was 195cm tall: her surname, translated from Dutch to English, was ‘Little Box’. ‘Anything but’ came to mind, hahaha.

My only knowledge about marketing in the corporate sector relates to how much money I would expect to see being spent as a percentage of turnover (sales).

This can vary both according to size of the enterprise and the type of business involved.

In general terms, a large conglomerate would expect to see a marketing budget of anything from 1% to maybe 10% of its Turnover, and depending on size, of course, that could range from £100 million to £1 billion per annum. [Far too generalized to mean much here]

The point of such sponsorship is simply to increase the sales and profitability of the sponsoring company, which would increase its own turnover, and enable yet more funds to be allocated to marketing in the ensuing period, in a virtuous circle.

High volume, low cost businesses, even large ones, spend very little on marketing as a percentage of turnover, relying on low product sales prices instead.

I do not know what ‘extracurricular’ tactics might be employed to gain market share, but clearly companies will try and outbid others in a sporting environment where there is a competitive sponsorship expectation, or they might be prepared to ‘bankroll’ a client company to purchase (say a football player) by underwriting the associated costs, which would then improve the chances of the football club to be more successful, and would enable the sponsoring organization to share in that reflected success.

‘Will you be happy, if that Dutchman is God himself (after his stint at Ajax), to understudy Liam Brady as our potential future new Head of Youth Development? Or returning as an important figure with our 1st team coaching staff (working with AW, Bould, Primorac and Banfield etc)?’

That would be fantastic, JM. I would expect him to want a place on the bench next to Arsene, though.

Having just returned from Spain after 12 years, the country is in free fall and “The Beckham” tax deal does not apply anymore. The majority of La Liga clubs are heavily in debt so I expext Arsenal amongst other clubs will be focusing a lot more than recently to capture a bargain.
Cazorla would have cost a lot more money if Malaga didn’t have a deadline to pay overdue taxes. Watch this space.

Argh, read all the mellifluous words! All else equal… The needs of sponsors and selling shirts and reaching markers wins.

Ie per JMs later comment, go thru Singapore. You’d think it was a wholly owned subsidiary of ManU, complete with 24 hour a day ManU channel, all ManU all the bloody damn time… The dollars there are worth some loss somewhere else in “the machine”…

Good to see HH testing JM’s assumptions and today’s post writer has held his position really well. Both bloggers argue fantastically well and Oz and jgc have added further quality input to the debate. And fellow bloggers can read all this for years to come, if they want to have a look at it again! Thank you guys! 🙂

I am convinced that sponsors, and also shareholders, have more than a bit of influence on a club’s transfer business. Arshavin probably came because our Uzbek was desperate to get a Russian into our team; and why was Park signed…. surely, because he is a big link to have to the lucrative Asian market for sponsors as well as major shareholders (personal business opportunities as well as merchandise sales etc). Gervinho could have been a similar signing…. (unlike the other two, I rate him though).

Arsene will fight his corner as much as he can, and it COULD explain why both Arshavin and Park have failed at Arsenal. I don’t think we will see another signing from another continent/ large country any more, unless they are really good, for as long as Wenger remains at the helm

I can see JM’s point re PUMA’s influence. If I would lead their Marketing department, I would look at my portfolio of clubs we sponsor and players we sponsor, and try hard to get the best possible combinations i.e. the best players at the most prestigious clubs within defined markets. In order to do so, my marketing budget might have to work creatively as I would like to maximise the exposure of the brand.

I reckon Wenger decides what he wants to a large extent and our sponsors and shareholders can help tremendously in achieving this. However, I am also under no illusion that Wenger will be influenced to at least some extent by the major shareholders and sponsors to go for certain players. It would be naive to think that Arsene is never under such pressures. But at least with Wenger we have somebody who has a strong enough position to make sure that football comes first, and who remains in control of that.

Thanks JM..
So.. bring some players from Malaga to support Santi.. or some from Montpellier to support Giroud.. hehehe.. Toulalan and Isco from Malaga.. or Cabella and Belhanda from Montpellier.. I think Cabella and Belhanda are more cheaper.. What do you think..??
Gervinho out.. Bony in.. hehehe.. isn’t that great..??? hahaha..

good points re Arshavin. Surely the park thing wasn’t solely for the promotion side of things. I think it’s been counter-productive because asian supporters are angry we didn’t play him. I think it was a rushed buy with Arsene not knowing much about him. Once he got to the training ground Arsene didn’t really like what he saw. Perhaps scouting report vs in the flesh.

That’s definitely how I see it if we didn’t make any additions. So many variables though:

-Teams with an aerial threat require Giroud because he is an asset in the air
-Will Arteta start to slow down like he’s showed at times this season (older players can decline at the click of a finger)
-Personally I prefer Jack next to Ramsey with Santi in the whole (because of his goal scoring abiliity).
-Will Ox improve 10-fold through the pre-season?! If so he could take a midfield spot or wing quite easily (i think he will be that good that whatever position is chosen for him he will usurp the player in the best 11).

I think Miquel will eventually take over BFG and aneke in the midfield.

It did stink but perhaps he was a few strikers down the list and had limited knowledge (well as limited knowledge a person like Arsene could have). I know Arsene is a master hunter of world talent but surely situations arise where he doesn’t have 100% knowledge about everyone…not enough hours in the day.

The blokes at your work would have needed a lot of restraint after finding out that information. If that happened at the warehouse I work the blokes would run with it and there’d be sexual harassment lawsuits flying around willy nilly!

In case any of you have not read the recently released figures of premier League earnings, I am copying it below!

Manchester United have received more than £60m in TV and prize money for the 2012-13 season.

Having claimed their 20th league title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge, the champions lead the way ahead of their rivals Manchester City and Arsenal.

Interestingly, Tottenham also received more than Chelsea, who were given just under £55m compared to Arsenal’s £57.1m. The lower fee is due to the Europa League winners appearing on TV live 16 times, compared to United’s 25, Arsenal and Liverpool’s 22, and Manchester City and Tottenham’s 21 times.

At the opposite end of the table, basement club Queens Park Rangers received just over £39.7m while Reading and Wigan – who join QPR in relegation – were granted over £40m each.

In the on-going battle on Merseyside, Everton finished above Liverpool for a second consecutive season, yet still received over £3m less than Brendan Rodger’s side.

And despite finishing down in 16th, Newcastle United still received £45.1m, earning more than Aston Villa, Stoke City and Southampton who all finished above the Magpies.

The huge sums once again demonstrate the financial importance of being in the top flight, and funding will increase next season when the new £5.5bn TV deal kicks in, highlighting the importance of Premier League survival this term.

This time next year, the title-winning club can expect to collect a fee closer to £100m, which may prompt clubs on the fringes of a strong title challenge to spend big this summer to reap the rewards next year.

Money comes into the club via three main revenue streams, with tickets and corporate dining providing match day income, media income – which provides the bulk of the payments – and commercial income, which includes kit deals, sponsorship, merchandise and tours.

Interesting, eh?

Take another look at the expected £100m for winning the Prem next year. An optimist would spend on yet another top player, in the quest for the top, because the increased winnings would pay for the player — it’s called entrepreneurship!! 😀

London, Paris, Milan are coincidentally “fashion capitals” with London and Paris being capitals of England and France respectively, Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.

Could we see in the future, more frequently of players among these 5 clubs exchanging between each other with more ease, be it on temporary loan or permanent transfer as a result of Emirates being their common factor?

@ Dr Glic comments,

They might still be hope since our scouts have been engaging in Spain and Germany during the season, AW’s remarks on the emergence of the Spanish and German market of quality players coming up from youth ranks, a working relationship with Real Betis (our Joel Campbell is still on loan with them), the various comings/goings with our players to the Bundesliga (Djourou loaned out, Angha moving abroad etc, Coquelin linked etc).

Beside, we have welcomed both Cazorla last summer and Monreal last winter from Malaga. There is every a chance we could welcome Isco this summer, should our club decide to. (Although Man. City and Pellegrini could have their say in proceedings to come, though I would personally believe that their first real target would be Jesus Navas).

@ JGC May 21, 2013 10:35

Speaking of Singapore, the entire Athletico Madrid team (Falcao, Turan and company, Diego Simeone etc ) reached the island a couple of days ago to “fulfill” their engagements with some sponsors (running soccer clinics and playing an exhibition match), with still 2 competitive league games left to play in La Liga.

Maybe henrychan can get to see some actions from live broadcast in that region?

@ TotalArsenal May 21, 2013 09:38

I am fine with our God managing the academy for a start, and when AW and Primorac feels it is the right time to pass their batons at Arsenal, he would step in and possibly be helping to coach and manage some of our youth players that he has previously coached and were promoted from our academy.

That’s probably why GLIC works from home now. He used to be a business man but was exiled to a country town. Now sexual harassment lawsuits are dealt by Mrs GLIC in the form of a beat down. She’ll have to be on guard though because once the love pad is finished Terry will be around making various peep holes around the place.

That is one massive price hike, Based on those figures even if we don’t win the league we will still earn ~37,9 million more (just enough to purchase the player highest on GLIC’s BOING scale). It’d be interesting to know just how much teams in the championship earn so we can see the drop off in revenue the relegated teams face.

Further to our earlier conversation, a bit of news that I saw, today, contributes to your point.

— “Brazilian MMA fighter Edimilson ‘Kevin’ Souza has signed a personal endorsement deal with Multiple Energy Technologies to promote its Bio Power products.

28-year-old Souza joins his compatriot Andre Santos on Multiple Energy Technologies’ books. The Arsenal left-back, who is currently on loan at Brazilian club Gremio, signed a deal to promote Bio Power products across Brazil earlier this month.

Souza, from Salvador in the north of Brazil, recently took a knockout win over Fabiano Soldier at ‘Jungle Fight 51’ in Rio de Janeiro.

According to a release announcing the deal, Souza has already incorporated Bio Power products into his training regimen, and will no doubt be obliged to communicate their efficacy over the coming months.

Arsenal’s record deal with Puma heralds new era for club and brand.”

What this means is that giving individual players a sponsorship deal, is another way to support the club by making a player’s salary package all the more attractive.

This already happens with our current sponsor, Nike, who have given deals to Jack W and others to make the pot tasty, and I suspect Puma will get into this for our players too.

happens all the time in MMA. So many fighters rave on about altitude training masks (company that makes it plasters their logo all over the fighters shorts) and how it’s helped them become the fighter they are now.

I’d expect ad campaigns with our players promoting puma products. Also the odd story of players preferring nike boots (protecting their individual sponsors). Happened with an Aussie rules team down here. Club sponsored by puma but couple of players refused to wear their shows due to their allegiance to Nike/Adidas

Now listen here bastards !. Unless you start to use my BOING ! SCALE in regards to any rumoured players, Dr Glic will be handing out the enema`s like Smarties….and they come in a tube as well……very large ones !.

Definitely an advantage. I’m surprised relegated teams don’t come straight back into the league. Newcastle did (then again they were far too good to be relegated and managed to keep most of their players) whereas Wolves are going down again (buffer definitely didn’t hhelp them). Birmingham and Blackburn sit mid table.

HH should have had a category for…… “Most dribble on my Hampton awaited post ! “, and the winner is……Ozzies pre-matches !. Take a bow son, but be careful not to poke yourself in the eye after a 10 on the BOING SCALE ! hahaha

He hits his head with his palm. “Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United – on the left wing! My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji’s best role. He’s an offensive midfielder with one of the best noses for goal I ever saw. But for most Japanese people it means more to play for Man United than Dortmund. We cried for 20 minutes, in each others’ arms, when he left. One year before that Nuri Sahin went because Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world. [Sahin is back at Dortmund after just four appearances for Madrid and an unhappy loan spell at Liverpool]. If players are patient enough we can develop the team into one of the biggest in the world.”

JM.. Singapore is not an island.. Yes We are close in term of distance.. but related news.. I think nothing special We can get.. everything in on the nets now.. hehe..
And what hell do I care about Falcao and his fellows.. hahaha..

TA.. yes I love Klopp.. he will be ideal for Wenger replacement.. someday.. if Wenger not decide to overcome Ferguson record in EPL.. hahaha..

TA @ 10:40 perfect summary of our debate and I 100% agree. I am not saying that sponsors play no role in the business affairs of the club, but to suggest they control pillars of business, such as demanding individual player transfers, beyond that of their own is far fetched.

JM, I’m being as polite as possible when I say this since I very much enjoy your perspective and all the points you have raised in your debate, but you cannot imply causation when your theory rests on an assumption. You (italics)assume(italics) that the sponsors’ needs come before that of the club’s needs and wants. It is faulty logic, open to error since it’s very possible and more likely that the club’s needs and wants come before that of the sponsor. Please do not imply that I’m clueless in regards to the effect of commercialization or the business world :). You must remember that your argument rests on several assumptions with no concrete evidence!

For example, in the same way you are arguing that a sponsor helps to dictate transfer movement, I will say the club buys the players it wants and if it happens to also please a sponsor then it is a win-win situation. However, under no circumstances will the majority of clubs operate in such a model where their business is solely run to appease a sponsorship. There are a plethora of sponsors to appease and sponsorship only represents a small fraction of the funds that ultimately are provided to a football club.

In very isolated circumstances, your argument may hold weight, however it is still an exception and not the norm. There (italics)could(italics) be a stronger correlation for your theory in circumstances where owner and sponsor are one in the same or in situations where the owner frequently interferes with the business. Still, the owner, on most occasions, will not purely buy a player at the advice/recommendation of a sponsor so as to only raise said sponsor’s brand value in other parts of the world.

So then, what comes first? Does AW buy a player only on the basis to help expand market share in other areas of the world? OR does AW buy a player from other parts of the world because he actually believes in their ability and at the time, could afford to buy them at reasonable prices relative to the club’s restricted financial position?

As you can see, your “theory” is too black and white leaving far too much room for error, yet you leave little room in the way of interpretation. You cannot imply that one thing leads to another without actually being involved in the day to day operations of the club. Again, I’m not saying sponsors have 0 influence on the business affairs of a club, since the club in question must ultimately meet its sponsors’ objectives in a contractual obligation. However, to suggest they are involved at a primary level is too far fetched and overstating the effect/power of a sponsor at a club (provided the owner does not own said sponsor).

Further, I do agree that sponsorship can play a part in a tertiary role (italics)after the fact(italics) such as helping to offset a slightly lower wage for a player (in comparison to what they could have received at another club) by increasing sponsorship bonuses and kickbacks for representing the brand as both player and with the club etc.

I think what Glic was implying when he called me a box-to-box midfielder with a lot of stamina is that I have the stamina to go girl to girl and he’s f*cking amazed at my ability to consistently perform hahaha!

OZ @ 10:56 cheers mate :). Very interesting points after listing the line-up and certainly all aspects I will consider in my goal prediction tally. In case your wondering, I wanted your input since our perspectives on individual players can often differ. However, we see eye to eye on exactly what the line-up would be next season with the same caveats, especially in regards to Arteta and Ox!

Could you also rank the players based on perceived value in terms of ability, scoring output and potential all combined?

I thought that Singapore is based mainly on the big island known as Singapore, and about 60 other small islands. If it is not an island, perhaps that is why the British were beaten by the Japanese in WW2 — they were defending a non existent Causeway. 😀

I have been to Singapore many times, and usually stay at the Mandarin or the Pan Pacific in Raffles Boulevard.

Are you sure that you are based in Singapore? perhaps you are in Beijing? 😀 😀

TA, tons of stamina and “not knowing how to use it properly” is even more frustrating. You could say his skill relative to stamina is not quite there, which creates “dissatisfaction for the rest” and only “pleasure for himself” 😀

What is interesting is the current domino effect that is going on. $hitty have since switched their interest from Cavani to Falcao, while Chavs had shifted their interest from Falcao to Lewandowski a couple weeks ago. Which ultimately leads to the speculation that Real are after Cavani or that some wild, outside third party team is also involved (Arsenal anyone? 😉 ; ) ).

JM, fabulous post my dear boy. You bring a tangent and diverse way of looking at the mechanics of play of the field that is very educational and enlightening. Top stuff.

This ones for Harmonious and all the other transfer window devotees. You know i dont like the transfer window and endless, mostly fruitless speculation that goes with it, but i have just watched a video of Gonzalo Higuain and……………………………yessssssss, please please please come to us Gonzalo. I will clean your house, spit and polish your shoes, even be your porkubine if thats what you desire. hahaha

Glic, I guess you could view it from that perspective, though it appears the captaincy will be removed since you have been sitting on the bench more than you’ve been playing lately! I guess you could say that you’ve been rather limp and only contributing minimal minutes at the end of games 😉

Hahahaha Glic, let’s not forget that if we ever tag team a “box”, you’ll be the one receiving little time and mostly be on the bench hahaha 😉 !

On another note, it appears we are drifting farther from Jovetic and closer to Higuain, which would please you. Juventus’ president openly admitted that they could not compete with Arsenal for Higuain because we are willing to meet Real’s valuation, while Juve’s valuation is closer to £15 million. Fiorentina appear to be stubborn on the £30 million asking price and that is simply a valuation too high for AW relative to perceived ability and who else he could sign with the inflated £6-10 million price.

What this could mean is what I suspected all along. Having an increased transfer kitty will not equate to spending frivolously on any player. The player bought must still meet AW’s valuation of their perceived market value or come at a discount! Guess we’ll have to wait and see this all plays out, since we won’t know anything until it’s confirmed :).

Yaya Sanogo : so apparently we have him on a 25 k weekly for the next 4 years ? 25 k a weekly for a youngster and unproven player ? if that figure was believed to be true then i must admit, that’s a massive surprise considering we had the OX on like 20 k a week until he had signed an extension not so long ago.

Jovetic : now then, they want close to a 30 and we don’t want to fork out as much, would most of you be happy if we were to get him by paying in excess of 20-23 million ?

as Kelsey rightly points out and as i have shared with you a lengthy conversation i had with one of my spanish friends, there are plenty of departures expected from spain this year…although we may not be able to get Messi or Ronaldo for 25 million but bar Falcao we might be able to bring a decent player, besides when was the last time a player from La Liga has failed to deliver the goods in England let alone at Arsenal ?

that kloppo interview was sheer genius, thoroughly enjoyable and one thing i notice is how he doesn’t hold anything back, originality is so under rated in football…thanks for posting the link to it, Glics

thanks for sharing the telegraph article, news and articles from the Telegraph are much more reliable than most of the other tabloids around, so if that’s what they are saying about Higuain then it’s time to actually start getting excited about the potential arrival of the Argentinean…..i’m a happy bunny, let’s make it official then, come on Arsenal 😀

Hi guys great post, I have to say I think we will only get two signings, where they are is up for debate. I personally would like to see us spend the money on two world class players, one clinical striker – Higuain, and one world class DM/B2B midfielder – Lars Bender. Then if we can afford another couple of players our next priotity should be an experienced goal keeper (prehaps Julio Cesar?) and then lastly a LW – for which I will put my head on the line and say Munian or Delofeu.

With regards to the Squillaci leaving I would simply say give Miquel more game time, I think he has real potential. If Sagna Leaves then give Jenkinson more game time, if Jenkinson gets injured put kosh at RB and bring TV in at CB, or alternatively Lars Bender is also a capeable RB.

money is the name of the game , who ever pays us more get’s to be on our kit, Nike had the option but they didn’t want to offer us more ..then we were in with Adidas and then pulled out as well…so Puma is the way to go, beggars can’t be choosers as in we don’t have the same negotiations powers or luxury’s that other top teams enjoy , who win trophies year in year out do, you see success on the field brings success off the field in more ways than one.

let us start winning some silverware next season and i am pretty sure that our commercial revenues will reflect that in the coming years, for now the puma deal isn’t as bad but i do agree with you re- Nike and bigger brands e.t.c.

A question for you articulate BBB`s, especially Redders !.
We all know that our TW budget being branded about is £70M. A few have mentioned this will have to include wages. Now this is what I don’t get, it is reported ( and I will post the link ) that we ( I say we, as I`m the Doctor of Love @ Arsenal FC ) are going to get rid of players this window ( out of contracts, Arshavin etc` ) to the tune of saving £350,000 per week !. Am I missing something here ?, surely this saving will go against the new players wages coming in, therefore the £70M will just be on transfer fees and not have to include wages !. So in theory, we could buy Bale for £50M and a DM beast for £20M and the saved wages on players going out will more than pay the wages of the new additions !.
Someone please tell me why my theory is not right !.

JM, I think sponsorship deals influence only a small percentage of signings. Clubs signing legends or players close to becoming legends are influenced by certain sponsorship deals to a moderate degree but I would say that the majority of signings are not. The sponsorship deals are more added bonuses when a player has already been signed.

Cornwall, no articulate people around, so you will ahve to with the Vampire Bat. hahaha

The money should be looked on as fluid. In other words Arsenal will going forward have a lot more spare cash to, hopefuly anyway, use on transfers and wages. say with sponserships and new tv deal its £50 million, the big thing is that it will be every year.

Vic`s, didn`t you once say the best and most safe sex you had with an animal without getting caught out was with a Giraffe ?…….you gave the Giraffe a BJ, whilst it kept watch, looking over the trees and shrubs !. hahaha

bale has a minimum starting point of 50 million in his contract, which means that’s the starting price and not the release clause itself (that clever phucker levy is very smart indeed)…in essence what it means is that only teams who can offer above 50 million can try their luck and persuade bale to leave…the starting price is 50 and it can easily go above the 80 million (world transfer record fees) if Bale has another ridiculous season which i doubt he will considering he has a bad back already by carrying Spuds the entire season 😉

i don’t blame you mate, it’s not about being a foreigner to be able to understand Glic’s humour, even aliens would struggle understanding it 😀

so the news of Gervinho’s departure back to France gathers pace which could only mean that we’re likely to get both higuain as well as jovetic …(apparently, Jovetic’s agent is in London as we speak after we triggered his release clause 23.5 million and we’re offering 70 k every week in ages, not bad if true).

I could go on all night with the animal stuff but the wife is calling and needing some attention !…bitch !. hahaha

007, Bale was an example, so lets use Isco instead…..BOING !.

Redders my love, I still don’t get it as my minds on animals !. hahaha
but, the paper said we were about to save MORE ! than £ 350,000 per week !. You accountants like tying people up in knots,,,,,,you sick f**kers ! . hahaha
Laterz !. 🙂

When you get back from your shagging duties, I was answering your specific question, earlier, and you had a point but it did not go far enough.

Arshavin and Squidgy were the two you mentioned, but there will probably be more savings to be made with the likes of Djourou, Santos, Denilson, Bendy, Park and maybe Sagna and Gervinho also possibly going, as well as a bunch of well paid youngsters like Eastmond, Angha and Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

Apart from Sagna and Gerv, none of them are involved with the first team, and would not be a loss to us, and together they probably cost us something like £30m a year in wages, at a guess * 4yrs = £120m salary saving over a 4year contract term.

What we don’t know is whether or not those evil accountants at Arsenal have already included the £30m p.a. saving within the £70m transfer budget.

Hahaha I see the discussion has gone to sh*t now that the intellectuals like myself, TA, JGC, Oz and JM have left…Glic what’s with this sudden infatuation with beastiliaty? I mean, I don’t want to say you have a problem since you might be using BK as a medium to “come out” again ;).

Influential Italian reporter Tancredi Palmieri has reported that Jovetic’s agent is now in London discussing personal terms as Arsenal agreed to meet Fiorentina’s valuation of £24 million for the Montenegrin…FWIW of course!

HH, that’s good news but is 25 million not a bit much for Jovetic considering we could get Higuain for around the same price .Higuain is more experienced, plays in a better league and for a club and also plays in the CL. Higuain is proven whereas Jovetic is not?

AFC, I would prefer Higuain to Jovetic too but I would not say no to either! Jovetic has age and hence potential on his side but if AW spends £25 mil on Jovetic then surely he sees something special in him.

Alternatively, AW may be buying Jovetic to play as a SS/CAM to allow Jack more time to heal after yet another surgery. Also, we cannot rule out that Gervinho may be sold since he has been linked to both Lyon and Galatasaray. AW could still buy Higuain to lead the line and have both Jovetic AND Higuain up front. What a coup that would be indeed 😀

AFC, Jovetic would bring an element/potential of Bergkamp to the team, whereas Higuain would be like adding a Van Nistelrooy to the team. It all depends what you feel we need in this team, but you know my view on this.

Also, Poldi is going under the knife as well so that’s another issue to consider. I’m assuming AW will need all the depth he can get and not be caught in the same positions he ha been in past seasons.

If we can get Jovetic, Higuain, an experienced back up and a DM but start the season with Arteta and Ramsey, while slowly integrating the DM then it’ll only be like transitioning two new starters into the squad/league :). Also, if Jack and Poldi are healthy at the start of the season, we could afford to slowly integrate Jovetic into the squad too!

for 25 million, Isco , Reus are certainly better than Jovetic …and yes, i’m with you on Higuain as well….if we are getting Jovetic then i doubt Wenger will be sanctioning the full asking prince or release clause price.

i’m actually looking forward to our arrival/arrivals from Germany, rumour has it there is going to be least one incoming from the bundesliga.

If I had to summarise, I would agree with both you and JM,.. really! I think perhaps he ascribes a touch more influence than necessary, but you, I think, assume he is saying total influence. Hence, my “all else equal” argument.

That lets me segue (a new “intellectual” word there for you TA! 🙂 ) to choice of our new striker, since all decisions will be made here, here I say, on BK.. Specifically:

==> I want the one who will come and have greatest impact…

That this can/could and has been debated to death shows, to me, the wide breadth of “all else equal” on offer.

And after it all, you never quite know if you get Arshavin vs Liverpool, or the rest of the Arshavin saga..

Anyway, I think I’d prefer Higuain, but have no real reason for saying so, and will be the first to say I knew it would be Falcao/Lewandoski/Ishgebibble when we sign one of them! 🙂

If you think Jovetic is the same as Jack and Santi then I understand where you are coming from, VCC. Jovetic is the complete attacker who can play anywhere up-front, including AM in our 4-2-1-3. He would be our ‘Rooney’ and both Santi and Jack are not Rooney-types.

Out and out strikers are Poldi and Giroud, if they needed to be. But that is not the system we are playing. We spread the goals and next season we will further improve with what we already have. Jovetic will complete our attack imo. 🙂

Per the article someone posted earlier from the Guardian, to me the other telling quote for this discussion was from the same bit others quoted, but:

“”Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United – on the left wing! My heart breaks. … But for most Japanese people it means more to play for Man United than Dortmund. ”

That second sentence says it all. 20 mins but … big in japan (to quote an old 80s song).

I think ManU bought him for backup in the middle and because he is their future there (maybe). But, at the last tipping point, big in japan didnt hurt given their huge Asian push.

In related news, we have a lot of students from Asia here in NZ. About 75% wear ManU shirts, 24% Chavs, and 1 young Chinese girl has some shirt with a cannon on it. I announced in class she’d get an extra few marks for her good fashion sense…

OMG, the uproar! It’s like I said Wayne Rooney’s taste in shady women was poor.. Truth hurts baby! 🙂

Total, when you talk of being creative, Santi and Jack are both that type of player. I understand where you are coming from regards the Rooney angle, where he can play both striker and supplier. If Jovetic can do both I will willingly buy you a pint at the Tavern and say I was wrong. I just don’t see Jovetic on his own changing anything that we have already, but Higuin (BOING) will.

Jovetic hasn’t electric pace, is not physically strong and is not a prolific goalscorer.

My angle is spend the money on a genuine wide player Isco (BOING) to supply pace and precision and have Higuin (BOING) to finish.